Snooker- that website is AWESOME! I need some quiet time to be able to read through it all. I would like to buy 2 nucs and be able to set up 2 hives this spring. I had hundreds (maybe thousands) of visiting bees - like one every 6 inches, in all of my brug flowers. They loved the pollen. They were so busy working, they were constantly bumping into me and never threatened me once. So they belong to someone's hive, I wonder how that will affect them. I am more focused on hive health and haven't really thought of the honey- I was told not to even think of harvesting in the first year. I want what's best for the bees! Have you heard of sifting powdered sugar on the bees and in between the frames to combat varroa mites? It's supposed to encourage bees to clean themselves more thourghly and remove the mites. I've been watching this older gentleman on you tube- OJ Blount - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5ePhvzeGwA he uses natural ways to promote his beekeeping. Check it out! Thank you Eloise- it's been a dream of mine for years! Bill- I was wondering how the bee stings are- I'm allergic to yellow jackets but not sure about honey bees. Guess I'll have to go buy that epi pen now. ($150 for 2!) I would love to work amongst the bees with just a veil, it get's hot here in NC! I'm in a tank top and shorts all the summer. I can't see me in total cover up for this! I have also decided to go with the medium frames because of the weight of them when they are full of honey. I don't want to depend on my husband to lift them every time I have to look into the hives. Well guys, thank you so much for all of your great info and suggestions. (wish you all lived nearby!) I'd like to keep in touch and see how things are going for you in the spring if that's ok!

It will be difficult to find a cooking class for dim sum. I also don't think it is really necessary. The prep and cooking for most dim sum is simple. The wrapping, pleating, etc takes practice and there is no substitute. I suggest you pick one dim sum dish, look up a recipe in a dim sum cookbook, online, or video, and just try it. Again and again. I am less familiar with East Indian curries but have made various curry dishes. Cooking classes might be more available for this cuisine. But making curries is quite easy, there isn't difficult technique required. Pick up a good cookbook - the Julie Sahni cookbook is one. The ingredients may take some looking, depending on where you live. I'll give you an example. Suppose you want to make xiao long bao (soup dumplings). - Take 1 lb ground pork and 2 lb pork bones/feet, add 1/2 tbsp each of ginger, garlic, scallion, and some salt, pepper. Simmer this in water for several hours to make a broth. You only need a couple cups of broth, but it has to be fairly concentrated and very flavorful. So you might start with 2 qt of water and slow boil, uncovered, until it reduces to 2-3 cups. Discard all the solids, keep the broth. Stir in a couple packets of unflavored gelatin powder. Refrigerate overnight. - The next day, make a simple dough from flour and a little water, knead it, roll it into a cylinder about 1" diameter, cut off 1/2" sections, flatten and roll those into round disks (skin) about 3" diameter and about 1/8" thin. You'll want about 20 of these skins, cover the stack with a cloth. - Remove the jelled broth from the refrigerator, spoon about 1 tbsp of the broth onto the center of a skin. Include some of the fat cap. Paint the edge of the skin with beaten egg. Gather the edges of the skin together at the top, folded/pleated, then pinch and twist to seal. Keep your finished dumplings on a plate or tray, under a towel, as you work. Keep the first ones in the refrigerator if it is taking you a long time to make the rest, as you don't want the jelled broth to melt. - Set your steamer over a pot of boiling water. Lay some lettuce leaves on the steamer to prevent the dumplings from sticking. Steam the dumplings, without overcrowding the steamer, for about 10 min. Carefully remove to a dish and eat right away. It isn't hard to make these. Here are the xiao long bao that my son made, on his first try. It is hard to make these perfectly or very fast, but we don't need to. Remember there are many variations and refinements. Don't get hung up on finding the definitive recipe. Also note that dim sum restaurants use considerable salt, lard, MSG, etc as shortcuts to flavor and juicy texture. To make equally tasty but healthy versions, we have to really concentrate our broth, use gelatin to replace lard, etc. Some like pork/shrimp filling in their xiao long bao, others like just soup. For filling, you'll combine 1/4 lb ground pork, 1/4 lb chopped shrimp, ginger, garlic, scallions, sesame oil, salt, pepper, a little soy sauce and black vinegar/Worchestershire sauce, and mix that with the broth before refrigerating it. Test a dumpling to determine steaming time necessary to cook the filling. Just try it. It'll be fun. The first results will be edible, if not pretty, and they will get better with practice.

To sum it up, there are three huge fires in California right now (along with some smaller ones that are not causing such concern at this time). Two are near Los Angeles and Ventura County. Jeri described them for us. (So very glad you are safe, Jeri!) One of those is just down the road from the dance hall/bar in Thousand Oaks were the mass shooting took place just days ago. I thought of Jim Delahanty who lived in Thousand Oaks, and how grieved he would have been at the recent events. Over 200,000 people have been evacuated from that area, and apparently there have been 2 deaths. The third fire is the Camp Fire in Butte County that destroyed the town of Paradise, CA in under 24 hours. At the current count 23 people died there. If you look on a map, it is located near Chico, and north of Sacramento. It is now 20% contained, but predictions are that unless we get rain, it will burn for the rest of the month. At this point, more houses have burned in this fire than in any other wildfire in California's history, even more than last year's fire in Santa Rosa. If you add in the evacuations there (a more rural part of the state), we are up to a quarter of a million displaced people. We have not yet had any rain in most of the state, and rain is what we need. We will be in dangerous fire conditions until the winter rains start. Here in the Bay Area we have smoky, polluted air, dangerous for babies (there is one in our house) and people with certain medical conditions, but compared to what is going on elsewhere, we are very lucky indeed. Counting our blessings as Thanksgiving Day approaches, and wishing the best for all.

" The governor came down really hard on them and basically said they'd better fly right or be taken over in the public interest. " Sure. Yeah. Our government always watches out for public's interest. No quid pro quo, or bribery in our country. That only happens in other countries. Have you ever wonder who are those people in Super Bowl box suites totaling over $20,000 per person (with traveling)? Restaurants $1000 per meal? Special events you get to mingle with move stars? ------- Book deals, "Charitable" foundations, paid speeches ------ Have you ever wonder how all those politicians, public works inspectors, make millions and millions while in office? regardless of political party? All perfectly legal? How is it possible that suppliers and contractors for government work get paid for 100% over contracts? Simple answer, voters (both sides) don't know and don't care. Sorry, plllog, I am very negative with our government. dcarch